Candace Pittinger is the founder of GenAmerica. The Aging and Independence Services of San Diego County, California, in partnership with GenAmerica, created The Guardian Angel Program. This program recruits and trains volunteers to visit one-on-one with elderly residents in local long-term care facilities. Guardian Angels enhance the quality of life of residents who have no family or regular visitors (which is true of sixty percent of nursing home patients.) Through the vision and expertise of Candace, the Guardian Angels program has been an immediate success. Candace was instrumental in developing the Guardian Angel training manual, and has provided the ÒHow to Communiicate with Our ElderlyÓ training as the backbone of the program. Ms. Pittenger has personally been touched by the lives of over 100,000 elderly residents in long term care facilities and has trained over 10,000 volunteers, staff, caregivers and family members on how to make a difference in the lives of the elderly. Candace is a professional speaker inthe health care industry and is also the author of Ribbons of Wisdom: How to Communicate with Our Elderly.